


Thornheart's Dark Redemption

by SolarPFlare



Category: Dark Deception (Video Game), The House of the Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Crossover, Dark Deception - Freeform, Other, Sega, The House of the Dead, Unusual Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:39:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22728535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolarPFlare/pseuds/SolarPFlare
Summary: Thornheart. A man responsible for many deaths, a worldwide undead apocalypse, caused by his man-made abominations. He thinks he can get away with it. He's dead wrong.Now, he has to go through the hells contained in Bierce's Ballroom, if he wants to have a chance of redemption.However, throughout the trials, he starts to experience memories he's repressed. Soon, he finds himself in regret and realizes how awful he was.----House of the Dead (c) SEGADark Deception (c) Glowstick Entertainment
Kudos: 2





	1. No Way Back- Level 1: Monkey Business pt. 1

_~~~~~~~~~_

**It has been done. You can't undo your actions.**

**Far too late to repent. This is your fate.**

**This is your predefined future. Your "destiny".**

~~

_In a mysterious Ballroom floating around in a purplish space, a tall slender woman stands, looking at an Altar placed in the center. Suddenly, she hears a portal open up. She gives a smirk._

???: "Well, well, another poor soul."

_She goes into the portal to see who her new visitor is. In the void, stands a middle-aged man, confused. He is abruptly taken aback when he sees a tall female silhouette appear. Soon, the silhouette reveals herself. The middle-aged man sees a tall woman with grey hair and teal eyes._

???: "Oh, how wonderful. Yet another one. (An unlucky chap). And you look quite... aged. 

_The man looks at Bierce with a glazed look before venomously spitting,_ "I have a name, you know."

???: "Oh-ho-ho, right. And so do I. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Bierce. Come with me."

_Before the man could do anything, he found himself in the Ballroom._

Bierce: "Now then, on to describing you. You are Thornheart, owner of a mysterious corporation that deals with a whole lot of science mumbo jumbo that I am not going to bother getting into. You are quite a specimen. I can see that you have done, quite some _nasty_ deeds in your previous life. You probably are regretting them now, aren't you?" 

Bierce scans Thornheart and is surprised to see no emotion, apart from a slight shivers.

"Oh, that's interesting. Usually, others before you grovelled and begged. You're being awfully quiet about this. Oh, and don't think I don't see your shivers. Don't be surprised. I know _every_ single thing you have hidden inside that maniacal mind of yours. So many bad things done, yet underneath all that, there is a shimmer of potential to be good within you! I can help bring that shimmer out and make it shine! However, I will need a powerful ring in order to do that. How are you going to help me obtain it, you're wondering? Well, you're going to have to suffer... quite a bit." 

_Soon, Thornheart finds himself right next to 1 of the 9 portals that were locked. Bierce is standing there with him._

Bierce: "There are 9 pieces of the ring that are hidden in each of these nightmares. Find them, and there will be a new life awaiting you! Fail, and you'll find fates far worse than death..." 

_Suddenly, the portal burst open. The portal is a hellish-red color, with strange symbols floating around it, and there's a picture of a demonic monkey in the center._

Bierce: "Clock's ticking..." 

_Thornheart decides to do some exploring first, before going into the first portal. He walks around the Ballroom, looking at the statue in the center and observing its strange nature. He then decides to go up the stairs, and that's when he notices something really weird: A large door, with what looks like some eyeball protruding from it, except that it's closed._

_After that, Thornheart decides to go into the first portal, a nightmare named Monkey Business. After entering, he looks around the 'entrance' of the hotel._

Thornheart: "(Hmm, someplace... looks awfully normal to be a nightmare... wait, where are the staff?)" 

_Thornheart looks around, before deciding to ring the bell. Ringing it, he gets irritated at the lack of response. After ringing the bell 9 more times, a shrugging monkey servant cardboard cutout suddenly appears from below. Thornheart doesn't react. Afterward, he continues down the hall, up to the corner where another cardboard cutout awaits. It falls down when Thornheart approaches. He continues until he sees the elevator open up ahead._

_He sees what looks like a silhouette of a monkey-like being standing in the elevator, but he doesn't know what it is. Once Thornheart gets close enough, the monkey screeches and closes the elevator. Thornheart gets startled by this, but nonetheless, he still is fine. After a bit, the elevator opens up, signaling that it's his turn to go up._

_Thornheart enters the elevator, and it automatically closes and heads up to the next level._

Bierce: "Going up?" 

_Once the elevator reaches the upper floor, the doors open. Thornheart finds himself where the rooms are located. He spots two of the entrances to the hallways all boarded up. What really catches Thornheart's attention is the statue In the center, exactly where the ring piece is located._

Bierce: "See those floating bits of crystals? Those are soul shards, fragments of the human spirit, scattered throughout this little maze, ones who... have met their end here..." 

_Bierce continued on, while Thornheart sort of zoned out. He thought over his life decisions that brought him here. He was still listening to Bierce, but only half of his attention was to her. He was startled when he suddenly had a tablet in his hand, with purple square dots on it, but he didn't notice the big numbers on top yet. Soon after, Thornheart heard Bierce say one more line before he was on his own._

Bierce: "... Now then, LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" 

_Upon hearing that line, Thornheart's fear started to grow._

Thornheart:("This is it. Time to face whatever hellish nightmare awaits me...") 

_He proceeded to one of the boards and smashed it open. Then, he started to collect the shards, and soon, he heard the music start. ("It's now begun...") Thornheart immediately looked at his tablet to see where the soul shards are. That was when he saw the numbers on top. He immediately realized that was the number of shards he had to collect. He ran and ran, collecting as many shards as he could. To his surprise, he hadn't seemed to run into any monster. It was until he gathered 1/4th of the total amount when he heard noises. Thornheart now knew he truly wasn't alone..._

_Thornheart heard what sounded like stomping and breathing, and knives slicing..._

Thornheart:("Oh God... it must be that monster I saw earlier!") 

_Thornheart wasted no time attempting to run away from the source of the noise._

_Fortunately, there were more shards waiting for him. However, when he got close to collecting all of them in that area... in front of him and charging forward, was a giant bipedal monkey, wearing a bellhop uniform, with its eyes bloodshot, and it has knives for hands. Thornheart stood petrified at the sight, until he heard a familiar voice yell out to him._

Bierce: "RUN! RUN!" 

_It was Bierce. She snaps Thornheart out of petrification. Thornheart immediately runs back, but when he turns the corner, he saw another monster. Thornheart quickly turns to the hallway. He looked ahead to see a few more shards. He picked them up, and he heard Bierce say:_

Bierce: "You've collected half of the shards!" 

_Hearing that made Thornheart surprised and almost slightly relieved... All of a sudden, Thornheart came across a strange orange-yellow orb floating in the air, a few meters away from him. Thornheart approached it, but before he could reach it, a Murder Monkey appeared from the corner. It got very close to Thornheart, but not close enough to kill him. Thornheart made a mad dash away from it. While running, Thornheart looked back at the tablet to see where the orb was, along with the other shards. But, he noticed the Murder Monkeys didn't appear on the tablet. Thornheart was surprised by this. He continued to run until he came across a strange area that was boarded off._

_Thornheart looked around. No Murder Monkeys were nearby, so he decided to break the boards and see what was behind it. He saw a floating picture/whatever. He grabs it, and Bierce is suddenly heard, saying:_

Bierce: "You've collected a secret!"

Thornheart: "(Secret?)"

_Thornheart could think it over later. Now, he needs to get back to getting the rest of those shards. He checked his tablet and saw that he only needed 100 left. He also saw that he managed to reach a shard streak of up to 150. He was too enthralled by this, that he failed to notice a Murder Monkey charging at him. Bierce suddenly yelled out to Thornheart._

Bierce: "It's catching up to you! Run!"

_Thornheart shot up and ran the opposite direction. Unfortunately, as he collected a few more shards, another Murder Monkey showed up. Thornheart went backward, but he looked back to see he was now cornered. Thornheart stood petrified. With nowhere to run, he awaited his demise._


	2. Level 1: Monkey Business pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of Monkey Business  
> \---  
> *There's a secret there, but I decided not to include it

Just in the nick of time, a glowing orb appeared right by Thornheart. He touches it, activating its power: stunning the monsters. Thornheart also hears a strange buzzing noise.

Bierce: "Good, you got them stunned. Now HURRY AND COLLECT THOSE SHARDS!"

Thornheart, without a second thought, speeds away, grabbing all the shards that were in the immediate area. The buzzing noise started getting faster. Thornheart kept collecting the shards. Soon, the buzzing noise had stopped. The monkeys were no longer stunned.

However, when Thornheart checked his tablet, he had only 25 shards left. And, he managed to rack up a 200 shard streak in the process. Thornheart was pleased to see this, but his joy was soon depleting, as he starts to have difficulty in finding those last shards. Bierce seems to have noticed this and sarcastically responds:

Bierce: "Can't find the soul shards? Why don't you ask the monster? Maybe it has seen some."

Speaking of monsters, Thornheart has seemingly lost the monkeys. None of them were near his location. It was at this moment that he saw a large red shard floating in the middle of an area that looked like a kitchen. He runs to the area and collects the shard. All of a sudden, the tablet showed three red dots on the tablet, and Thornheart sees a notification on there stating that all of the enemies have been revealed. 

He finds half of the remaining shards, but he accidentally opens a random door in the process. He decided to take a peek inside, and he found nothing noteworthy of the room *****. Upon exiting, he sees a Murder Monkey around the corner, and it immediately gave chase. Thornheart sprinted, turning corners as much as he could until he managed to lose it again, fortunately not running into any other Murder Monkeys, which were still patrolling. 

When Thornheart located the remaining shards on the tablet, there was a detail on the map that caught his attention. He saw what appeared to be a large room. Curious, Thornheart decides to and investigate. Soon enough, he got to the area and opened the door, to be met with a slight shock. In the center, underneath another secret was what appeared to be a taped outline of a body, similar to a crime scene. The room made Thornheart feel on edge and uneasy. He left the room almost in an instant after collecting the secret. Soon after he collected the last secret and reached an area where the remaining shards are. 

Thornheart started to get chased by two Murder Monkeys as he was collecting the last shards, but he had gotten the hang of dodging them, to the point he isn't too afraid of them. Throughout his dodging, however, he noticed that the Monkeys weren't as dimwitted as he thought they were, as they managed to corner and nearly kill him numerous times. Nonetheless, Thornheart successfully obtains the last shards, and that's when he senses a horrible change in the realm. He starts hearing angry monkey chattering and screeching, and when he looks back at the Murder Monkeys, he sees their eyes were now crimson. This sight horrifies Thornheart. Bierce suddenly interjects.

Bierce: "You've managed to collect all of the shards. The monkeys are now in a state of frenzy. That means that they are going to be very aggressive, even more than they already were towards you initially. Now, get to the ring altar before the _monkeys get you_!" 

Thornheart obeys Bierce and frantically searches for the ring altar. He was more than relieved when he found a medium-sized golden square, which was where the ring altar _and_ the starting area is. Thornheart reaches it and obtains the ring piece. Shortly after, a demonic voice is heard. 

???: **"Grrrr! Who _dares_ disturb my slumber?!" **

Bierce: "Shoot! He knows you're here now, Thornheart! Run into the elevator quickly!" 

Thornheart sees the elevator doors open and immediately went in without question. However, as soon as he did, he saw a frenzied Murder Monkey burst out of the boarded door and charge at him at an insane speed. Fortunately, the elevator doors slammed shut, but it still was a petrifying sight. The elevator went down and soon, Thornheart was back at the ground floor. The monkey screeches were echoing throughout there too. 

Thornheart shakes himself out of it and begins walking towards the exit. However, when Thornheart got far enough, he heard all of the elevator doors open behind him. He turns to see all of the Murder Monkeys charging at him. Thornheart screams and runs frantically towards the portal. Amidst the fright, he hears the same demonic voice from before:

???: **"There's no escape for you, foolish mortal!"**

Thornheart runs until he reaches the portal. He turns back to see the monkeys near. He jumps into the portal which disappears soon after. Before he knew it, Thornheart was back at the Ballroom. 

~~~~~~~

Thornheart found himself standing in front of Bierce, who looks quite pleased. 

Bierce: "Oh! How lovely, you managed to collect your first ring piece! And, I see you have met my friend, _far_ sooner than anticipated..." 

Thornheart suddenly found himself standing in front of the door with that strange eyeball in the center. The eye in the center soon showed itself. It stared intensely at Thornheart before it spoke.

???: **"Bierce! You still haven't given up on your quest, have you? DO NOT LISTEN TO HER, THORNHEART! She is merely using you for her own nefarious purposes! Give the ring to her, and there will be... dire consequences... VERY dire consequences... This is your only warning. Help her and you will SUFFER SEVERELY! Worse than what those two agents would've had in store for you, when they capture you and take you to their higher-ups!"**

Bierce: "Oh ignore him, Thornheart! He cannot do anything to you here. Now, the ring piece, place it at the altar, _pronto_!" 

Thornheart was taken aback at how fiercely Bierce said that, as well as the stare she gave him. He places the ring piece at the altar in the center of the Ballroom, and he heard Bierce utter something before she continued. 

Bierce: "(It's been so long...) Now, the name of the Ring that you're collecting pieces for is called the 'Riddle of Heaven'. Quite an ironic name, isn't it? A demon's power is contained in that ring, a creature of infinite cruelty that you had just met. His name is Malak. Gather all the ring pieces and complete the ring, and you'll be able to use his powers to fulfill all of your deepest darkest desires, _or so the legend goes_..." 

Bierce smirked at the last line she said, before she set Thornheart back to the center of the Ballroom, overlooking all of the nightmare portals. 

Bierce: "You have 8 more trials awaiting you, Thornheart. Ready to face another nightmare?" 

The next portal unlocked, showing the face of a scary-looking little girl. Thornheart approaches the portal, causing him to have a sudden flash-forward. He was standing in a red room, and in front of him was a silhouette of a demonicly deformed little girl, laughing and skipping around, her long arms and claws dragging around. Her laughs echo around, filling Thornheart with dread of what's to come.

**END OF CHAPTER 1.**


	3. Intermission

Thornheart steps away from the portal, horrified by what he saw. He looks back at Bierce who was doing her own thing. The thought of her made Thornheart remember one mysterious thing that baffled him when it happened: Malak, the demon that tried to kill him and the power source for the Riddle of Heaven, somehow  _ knew  _ his name!  Thornheart decided that the second nightmare can wait a bit. He needs to interrogate Malak first. Thornheart walks away from the portal, up the stairs to where the door is, where Malak is watching through the eye. 

Malak:  ** "Hehe! I see you!"  **

Thornheart rolls his eyes. 

Thornheart: "And I can see you too. As a matter of fact, anybody else can." 

Malak:  ** "I can see  _ through  _ you!" **

Thornheart's eyes widen. However, he attempts to regain composure.

Thornheart: "Anyways, that's not what I'm here for. Malak. I have some questions for you. You  _ knew  _ my name before we even met, how is that possible?"

Malak just scoffs at Thornheart.

Malak:  ** "Fool! Your actions have been told and spread throughout the entire demon realm. The demons are awaiting the day they can have at you!" **

This catches Thornheart off-guard. 

Thornheart: "Jeez! Were my actions  _ that _ bad?" 

Malak: (mocking)  ** " _ That bad? _ Are you really that foolish? Your 'actions' were by far THE MOST ATROCIOUS THE DEMON KIND HAS EVER SEEN! And I'm what Bierce told you. That's saying something!" **

Thornheart just stands there. Malak's words echo through his head.  _ Atrocious actions, even for the demons?! _ Thornheart ponders before he remembers his other question. 

Thornheart: "I have one last question. What did you mean by, ' _ those two agents _ '?"

Malak:  ** "Ho-ho-ho! Did you really just forget what I told you? I CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU!"  **

Malak booms to Thornheart. Thornheart looks back at Bierce again. She still stood at the altar and had yawned in response to what she heard Malak say to Thornheart. Thornheart decides to walk back down the stairs, but not before Malak interrupts him.

Malak:  ** "One more thing... I hope you already realized something about your body..." **

When Thornheart thought over what Malak said, he suddenly realized that he had completely forgotten that one major thing about himself that had disappeared: He no longer had a limp. Before all of this, he was an old man with a limp, but now he is literally walking and running as if he is still young.  Thornheart felt completely surprised by this. He takes a deep breath and enters the second portal. However, he is met with a surprise. In front of him, is a web-like energy wall, blocking the entrance to the second nightmare. 

Bierce: "Malak has blocked the entrance. I can see he  _ really  _ doesn't like you! Fear not, love, I can grant you a temporary speed boost to bash through that wall. Come over to the altar."

Thornheart exits the nightmare and back to the ballroom. He looks to see the metallic "ball" on the ring altar suddenly burst to show a glowing purple orb, much like the orb seen on the altars in the nightmare where the ring piece is kept. He approaches the altar and touches it. He suddenly feels a surge of energy rush through his entire body. 

Bierce: "That should do the trick. And don't thank me yet. We'll work that out later."

With that, Thornheart ran back into the portal and used his new speed boost powerup. He breaks through the barrier and runs into the entrance of the next nightmare:

** BEGIN CHAPTER 2:  **

** ELEMENTARY EVIL **


	4. Level 2: Elementary Evil pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thornheart faces the second nightmare, Elementary Evil, menaced by Agatha.

When Thornheart reached the entrance of the nightmare realm, he is met with what looks like an elementary school. 

Bierce: "An elementary school... do you recall any memories of your school days? After all, those were your more innocent days..."

Thornheart walked forward until he saw another barrier in front of him.

Bierce: "Another barrier. You know what to do." 

Thornheart bursts through the barrier, running past a school bus that was obtruding in the hall and ran into an auditorium, where the nightmare was waiting for him. When he got in, he is met with a "Welcome" sign and a crude drawing of a creepy-looking girl, with long arms. Thornheart soon heard a piano playing in the background for a bit and then... 

???: " Ooh! A new visitor! A principal perhaps? Welcome! I did hear that we were going to get somebody new here soon, so I decided to throw together this welcoming party! " 

Thornheart was bewildered by what he was seeing in front of him: A tall-looking little girl with long black arms, just like he had seen in that flash-forward, with claws and a horrendous countenance had teleported herself in front of him. Despite her appearance, she was acting with a welcoming attitude, nevermind the fact that she was actually talking in complete audible sentences. 

???: " Even though you're not really a student, we can still be friends! You can share with me all your secrets, all your mistakes, ALL YOUR PAIN! That's what friends are for, _right _ ? "

Hearing that reminded Thornheart that this was a nightmare and that the little girl was NOT really friendly. After all, how did the soul shards get there in the first place? The doors opened up soon after the little girl disappeared. 

Bierce: "Looks like school is back in session..." 

Thornheart proceeded to the doors to begin collecting the shards. He looks around for the girl, but he couldn't find her anywhere near, so he decides to start collecting the shards before she shows up again. 

~~~~~~

Thornheart pulled up his tablet and started collecting the shards. It was only a few seconds afterward that he hears the little girl call out, " Ready or not, here I come~ " Now she has begun her search for Thornheart. He runs around collecting shards, while avoiding the little girl. When he opens a double-door, the girl is right in front of him. She roars and attempts to chase after him. Thornheart uses the speed boost to get away and briskly collect more shards. 

When his speed boost runs out, Thornheart walks the rest of the way. While doing so, he noticed some very interesting things on the walls. Some were the posterboards themselves. One of them was a picture of a Murder Monkey, warning students to not misbehave in the hallways. Another one had the little girl herself on it, stating that she can hear everything. Thornheart didn't believe this initially. He tried it out on a random closed door nearby. He opens it and soon enough, " I hear you... I'm getting warmer~ " Thornheart's eyes dilate, and his whole body tensed and went into a cold sweat. He runs past the opened doors, unaware of where the little girl was. As a matter of fact, Thornheart unknowingly put his tablet away and wasn't looking at where he was headed. It was until he reached a dark classroom that he stopped to take a breather. 

Thornheart looked around the darkened classroom, lit only by a projector. He looked at what was on the screen. He saw a tombstone in a graveyard. ( _What's that doing in an_ elementary school?) Thornheart thought to himself, before reminding himself that it was a nightmare. Bierce seemed to know something about the tombstone, however. 

Bierce: "An unmarked grave... it must be hers."

Thornheart: "Who is this she?"

Bierce: "You don't know? That girl's name is Agatha. I'm sure that name should ring some bells in your head, no?"

Thornheart: "Agatha... why does it sound so familiar? Oh man, what a case of Deja Vu..." 

Just as he said her name, Agatha appeared in one of the hallways leading to the room, facing in the direction of Thornheart. She giggles, " Looking for me, Mr. Principal? " before running after him. She kept chasing Thornheart for a bit, while Thornheart had kept collecting the shards. However, in the midst of him getting chased, he pulled up his tablet and noticed a small room that was hidden in the map. He thought back and realized that he had run past it while being chased. Thornheart immediately began his search for the room. 

When he reached the entrance, he saw the two doors. Thornheart opens the doors and the contents horrify Thornheart. He looks inside and on the left is a marker drawing of a girl Thornheart presumes to be Agatha and a woman who might be her mother drowning in a sinking, burning car, while a smiling face labeled "daddy" was apparently watching the whole thing. 

For the first time, Thornheart felt a new feeling inside him, a feeling that he thought he would never have felt in his lifetime: regret. Something about the drawing made Thornheart feel like something had begun to eat him from inside out. He started to remember a translucent memory of him being in elementary, and there was a girl who seemed to have wanted to be friends with him... or Thornheart thought. This kept him petrified, up to the point Bierce irately responded:

Bierce: "What are you doing?! Those soul shards aren't going to collect themselves, you know!" 

At that, Thornheart snapped out of his "guilt trip" and resumed his search for the shards. Fortunately, Agatha is far away, so Thornheart collects the rest of the shards easily. He checks his tablet to see that he had barely 150 left. However, this surprises Thornheart as he notices that despite there being a lot of shards left, there was barely any seen remaining on the map. Nonetheless, Thornheart used his speed boost to get to the remaining shards. They were stationed near the exit of the building. Once Thornheart got all the shards, that's when Bierce decides to point out to Thornheart the situation he's in. 

Bierce: "That's all of the shards here, but it's only half. There must be more in the next zone, hurry over there!" 

" _Another zone_ , _that's new_ ", Thornheart thought to himself. He opened the double doors to see a playground, and a purple web-like barrier, almost like the red ones, that was wrapped on the other doors, disappear. "( _This must be the entrance to the next zone_ )", Thornheart thinks as he looks up at the name of the building. **Agatha Elementary**. 


	5. Level 2: Elementary Evil pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Thornheart presses on in the nightmare, he has an unexpected encounter with an unseen entity that has some link to his childhood.

Thornheart approaches the entrance to Agatha Elementary. He hesitantly reaches for the door handles, feeling uncertain about continuing on. Just then, he hears a small voice call out to him, _Go play on the slide. It'll be lots of fun!_

This obviously isn't Bierce. It sounds way too nice to be hers. No, this voice is coming from somewhere else, maybe Thornheart's own mind. Thornheart scoffs at this, as he says out loud in response to the voice in his mind that he's too old for such childish activities. The voice, which now assumes a feminine tone, sighs with apparent disappointment. 

_Oh, come on, Tommy! You're such a bore!_ The voice scoffs, causing Thornheart to tense up. In his elementary school days, there was a girl who gave him that nickname, and despite repeatedly pointing out his boring nature, she continued to hang out with him. The disembodied voice that just popped up happened to call him by _both_ of those titles! 

"W-Who are you?" Thornheart calls out in his head to the voice, with no answer from it, only a fierce response from Bierce, being unaware of the voice that spoke to Thornheart.

"What are you doing _talking to yourself_?! GET TO THE NEXT ZONE!" 

Instead of listening to Bierce, Thornheart decides to listen to the voice's request and go play on the slide. Despite his size and age, Thornheart slides down smoothly and another strange new feeling arises. It is a little spirit of childlike excitement and a small thrill. With these new feelings, Thornheart enters Agatha Elementary.

Afterward, Thornheart enters Agatha Elementary. He is met with what looks like a gym. Thornheart looks around the room until he realizes that he is being watched. He steps onto the center of the room and spots someone above at the balcony. He sees what looks like a humanoid, slowly walking to the right, staring menacingly down at him. The figure looks like a devil, its skin a crimson red complemented with devilish horns, and a wicked grin spread across his face. It laughs at Thornheart before disappearing in a puff of black smoke. 

Thornheart, shaken by what he saw, continues onward into Agatha Elementary. The interior looks horrendous. The floor and the walls appeared to be burnt, and the general atmosphere had the same characteristics. There is the same web-like barrier from before. When he gets close to it, Agatha teleports in front of him. 

" Aww, you took all my friends! Well, it's been a while since I've got to play around with anyone for this long but playtime's over. Now, it's time I show you what I can _really do_...  " Agatha says to Thornheart before disappearing. Thornheart stood there for a bit before he burst through the barrier. What Thornheart saw beyond that was something that jarred him internally, despite the interior giving some hints of what horrors lie in the building. He saw silhouettes many children in the windows. They're all little girls, laughing yet desperately trying to get out of the rooms they're in.

"Like what I've done with the place? " Agatha asks Thornheart after he observed everything. Soon, Agatha says again, "Ready or not, here I come!" a cue to warn Thornheart that Agatha has begun her search once more. 

Thornheart also resumes his search for the soul shards. Unfortunately, he immediately encounters Agatha after opening some of the doors. He runs off, but this time, Agatha didn't pursue. Instead, she did what she told Thornheart, show him what she was hiding: teleportation. She immediately teleports right near where Thornheart was running to. Fortunately, he takes another turn, which angers Agatha. She teleports to that area, which Thornheart ran from. He proceeds to use his speed boost to escape her once more. 

" No fair! That's cheating! " She yells out after being evaded. 

Thornheart continues his search for the shards. However, while running, his grip on the tablet falters, nearly dropping the tablet. He managed to catch the tablet but doing so resulted in him touching the screen causing the map to zoom out. Thornheart is dumbfounded by this sight. He quickly touches the screen again to make the map view zoom back in. Unfortunately, he hears Agatha has found him and has teleported near him. 

Much to Thornheart's convenience, he is in the cafeteria when this occurred. To get her off his tail, he runs around the cafeteria and opens any doors he comes across. To his joy, Agatha falls for it and gets stuck. With that, Thornheart runs out of the cafeteria and back into the halls. The rest of the search went smoothly. Soon, Thornheart came across a poster with Agatha on it. He examines it, and the contact results in the wall moving away to reveal a hidden room. Inside, Thornheart sees yet another drawing, this time of Agatha. In it, she seems to be spreading her arms out, almost like a hug. Her arms wrap around the entire room. On the left, Thornheart sees a well, which reminds him of a Japanese horror movie/Urban legend involving a little girl more younger than Agatha- being drowned in there. This thought sends cold shivers down Thornheart's spine. He gets further startled by Agatha's disembodied voice. " Feel safe in there? " 

At that, Thornheart immediately realizes that he must've found some hiding place that belongs to Agatha, and now she knows he found it. He gets out of the secret room and continues his pursuit of the shards. Throughout, Thornheart hears Agatha mutter out stuff involving him and her being "friends" and how she won't let him get the ring piece. Soon, Thornheart found all of the remaining shards. 

Bierce: "You've found the last shard! Now get to the ringpiece before _Agatha gets you_!" 

Agatha: "You'll never get the ringpiece! I won't let you!" 

Soon, Thornheart hears school bells ringing throughout the halls. Bierce casually responds, "This is fine," earning another eye roll from Thornheart. 

Thornheart remembers that the ring piece was located in the middle of the playground. He speed-boosts himself there and grabs the ringpiece. However, he found himself unable to open the doors back to the other elementary school. He turns around and sees Agatha, her black maidlike dress, now a color of crimson, same with her eyes. "( _Now she's in a frenzy_ )", Thornheart thought to himself at the sight. 

Agatha: " YOU! I've tried so hard to be nice to you, but you don't care! YOU JUST WANT TO STEAL MY THINGS! You're a mean, old " <she fumbles her words out of anger> "-BAD PERSON! And worse, you've made daddy mad, too!" Agatha disappears and the doors to her school open up. There stood a figure, the same one Thornheart has seen earlier. 

Malak: " **End of the road, Thornheart."** All of a sudden, Malak puffs into a ghostly cloaked being and begins chasing Thornheart. **"Give that back to me! Your death is imminent!"**

Thornheart starts to run as fast as he could, far away from Malak. However, Thornheart sees these weird red "portals" which were misspelled. Worse, the face in the center and the rest of the "portals" are crudely drawn, making it further obvious that it is a trick by Agatha. 

Thornheart: "Nice try, little Agatha. You can't fool-" Thornheart stops himself. He was going to insult Agatha, but he instead said her name, as a father would. This completely confused Thornheart who once again had to face Bierce yelling at him. 

Bierce: "Move _faster_! Malak's here!" 

Yet, amidst Bierce's yelling, Thornheart could have sworn he heard Agatha whisper, " Oh, we'll see about that,  _ old man  _ ". He continues running until he saw that some of the doors were shutting themselves. "  Uh-uh-uh. No shortcuts. " Agatha playfully said to Thornheart. 

Thornheart had to carefully maneuver his way around the halls, avoiding the fake portals and Malak. Soon, he found himself back in the auditorium. He runs to the doors, but he gets blocked off again by the doors shutting themselves again. Agatha teleports herself in front of him again, asking " Going somewhere? " Thornheart stops in his tracks and turns to see Agatha standing at the other end of the Auditorium. 

Agatha: " YOU! You'll never escape! I won't let you take my friends from me! " 

Agatha approaches Thornheart, ready to kill him when suddenly the doors open behind Thornheart. 

Bierce: "It's open!" 

Agatha: " Bierce! STAY OUT OF MY ROOM! ROOOOOAR! YOU'RE BOTH CHEATING! " 

All those lines are what Thornheart had heard when he had reached the vicinity of the real portal. Thornheart wasn't even near it when he suddenly found himself sucked into it, leaving behind a very angry Agatha. 

~~~~~

**That little girl. Does she look familiar to you?**

**What? Are your precious memories starting to betray you now, Thornheart?**

**That girl was almost the same age... the same age as that other girl you've met earlier. WAY earlier. _Childhood_ earlier. **

\----- 

These thoughts were typed out from a typewriter that appeared within Thornheart's mind. He had read every line, regret surging through his veins. It was until that same girl's voice had come back. 

. . .

_Don't let them drag you down further, Tommy. I know you still have good in you. I believe in it._

_Please, don't give up. I know you'll make it through!_

~~~~~

Thornheart finds himself back at the ballroom. Another ringpiece has been collected and added to the Altar in the center. "7 pieces to go, love. Ready to try again?" Bierce asks Thornheart as another portal opens up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the extreme gap in the publishing, College got in the way, and I lost motivation because of it.  
> Also, I sort of had forgotten about this.


End file.
